Representative Randy Fine, Republican of Florida, on Tuesday faced a barrage of calls for his resignation from Democrats — and silence from Republican leaders — after making an Islamophobic statement suggesting he prefers dogs to Muslims.
Mr. Fine, a Jewish first-term congressman who was known in the Florida Legislature as “The Hebrew Hammer” and often makes Islamophobic remarks on social media, made the statement in question on Sunday in response to a post from a Palestinian activist based in New York City.
Nerdeen Kiswani, a Palestinian Muslim New Yorker and organizer, said in a social media post that dung-filled snowdrifts in the city proved that dogs should not have a place in society as indoor pets because, she wrote, “like we’ve said all along, they are unclean.”
Mr. Fine responded: “If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one.”
The comment prompted immediate and unequivocal condemnation from Democrats.
Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, said that Mr. Fine “is a disgrace to the United States Congress. He is an Islamophobic, disgusting and unrepentant bigot.”
Mr. Jeffries added that it was “unacceptable that Mike Johnson and House Republicans continue to remain silent,” referring to the speaker.
Governor Gavin Newsom of California, the reigning Democratic king of trolling Republicans online, wrote bluntly, “Resign now, you racist slob.”
Many House Democrats called for Mr. Fine to be stripped of his committee assignments.
But Mr. Johnson remained silent, and Mr. Fine doubled down in response to the backlash.
“My post was in response to a major Muslim leader saying dogs should be forbidden from New York City because to some Muslims, it bothers them,” Mr. Fine said in an appearance on Newsmax. “If they’re going to make us choose between our dogs and them going home, the choice is easy.”
On social media, Ms. Kiswani called Mr. Fine a “rabid Zionist” who used her words “as an excuse to post genocidal rhetoric against Muslims.”
In a follow-up email to The New York Times, Ms. Kiswani said that she had intended her words to land as a “mild, satirical” post, and viewed Mr. Fine’s response as reflective of a political climate in which “anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim bigotry is normalized and hostility toward our communities is more easily justified.”
She said her post was misinterpreted and used as “grounds for days of attacks, threats and widespread misinformation, including inaccurate claims that I am part of Mayor Mamdani’s administration.”
Mr. Fine has referred to both Muslim women in Congress as “terrorists.”
In a post in May, he addressed Representative Rashida Tlaib, Democrat of Michigan, saying she should “tell your fellow Muslim terrorists” in Gaza “to release the hostages and surrender.”
In July, Mr. Fine called Representative Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota, a “terrorist” after she appeared to refer to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel as a war criminal.
“I’m sure it is difficult to see us welcome the killer of so many of your fellow Muslim terrorists,” he wrote online, referring to Ms. Omar. “The only shame is that you serve in Congress.”
At the time, House Democratic leaders condemned his comment. Mr. Johnson never did.
Annie Karni is a congressional correspondent for The Times.
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